WHO WE ARE
In the indigenous Maori culture of New Zealand, a koru is the unfurling frond of the silver fern, a spiral form that represents growth, positive change, and new beginnings. The koru honors a vision for development that is natural, continuous, and deeply rooted in community.
In 2014, veteran educators who recognized the challenges of deep instructional improvement launched Koru Strategy Group LLC out of the Harvard Innovation Labs to create better learning environments for all students. Inspired by a vision for meaningful change that starts with educators’ mindsets and the ways they work together and make decisions, Koru was created as a way to enact positive change through professional growth.
At Koru, we are led by a core team and staffed by a diverse and talented network of consultants and coaches. Together, we are driven by a shared purpose, grounded in our core values, and distinct in our approach to helping school systems get better.
OUR PURPOSE
We envision school systems where students -- kids and adults! -- love to learn, where educators are fulfilled in their work, and that communities can be proud of. We achieve our purpose by helping you fulfill yours.
OUR VALUES
COMMUNITY
Community is the heart of all we do: what we build through intentional collaboration and partnership, and whom we serve in our work to improve schools. We believe in learning from the beauty, experiences, and assets of people who form community.
EMPATHY
Our approach to school improvement begins with empathy. We seek to better understand and appreciate the contexts and complexities of each community, and we look to the people we're designing for in co-creating learning pathways that help them to surface and solve their own problems of practice.
EQUITY
We are committed to helping school systems become places where each student belongs and every student thrives. We acknowledge we must actively investigate our own identities and biases, address and redress inequities, and be authentic and intentional in how we engage and partner with others.
TEAMING
From our network of consultants to the school and system teams with whom we work, we focus on norms and practices for working together productively within and across diverse contexts. Each project is a partnership requiring strong relationships, trust, and collaboration.
TRANSFORMATION
We guide teams along a pathway where they experience both continuous, incremental improvement and fundamental change. We believe that establishing new norms and practices and shifting the culture of teams and systems lead to meaningful change with profound impact for individuals, teams, schools, systems, and communities.
JOY
We engage in the complex work of school improvement from a place of hope and aspiration. Our vision for better school systems is one in which all stakeholders -- from students and families to teachers and administrators -- experience joy through a deep sense of purpose, belonging, and fulfillment.
OUR APPROACH
Our purpose and values drive the way we approach each relationship and project. We help you to achieve your purpose by:
BUILDING STRONG RELATIONSHIPS: we develop a strong foundation and engage in deep and ongoing work with schools systems, often over multiple years, keeping the communities and learners we serve at the center.
CO-CREATING A SHARED VISION FOR SUCCESS: together, through deliberate time spent listening and learning, we design, scope, and plan a professional learning pathway customized to your needs and community.
SUPPORTING TEAMS THROUGH ALL STAGES: from diagnosis and design, to planning and implementation, and coaching and follow-up, we partner with you throughout each step of a comprehensive improvement cycle.
FOCUSING ON FORMING NEW HABITS: we facilitate fundamental changes in practice and shifts in culture that lead to transformational results for adults and students.
ADDRESSING BOTH TECHNICAL AND ADAPTIVE CHALLENGES: we target both the adaptive work (shifting mindsets and beliefs, changing habits and establishing new ones) and technical solutions (tools, protocols, and processes) required for achieving success at scale and sustaining it over time.
REFLECTING, ITERATING, AND IMPROVING: in our own work and our work with you, we are intentional about collecting and analyzing evidence, making adjustments, and figuring how and what we can do better.